I have DirectInput working which captures the mouse and keyboard messages. I also have been able to get texturing working on a transformed quad in 2d and to draw text on the screen using a Font.

Next Steps:
Complete design doc for the game in detail
Get a hold of sprites to use in the game for the player and monsters (looking for an artist)
Document the design of the 2D engine and interface between subsystems
Complete UI design and implementation using XML to store the location of each control per screen which is a control container